The King of Fire and his Queen of Snow
by Isaiah6933
Summary: The legend is given life in reality. The past arrives at the present and shapes the future. One day normal day, Nick and Judy meet an odd fox with two colors on his coat. Re-uploaded. Still on hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Please take note of this dear reader: This my first time posting a story on here. I have no beta readers. I have no editor. I have no skill in drawing and thus no cover for this story. If you like this story and want to help me make it the best I can and have skills in any of those fields, then please message me on here. Anyway, please read and leave if a review if you have the time. Constructive criticism never hurts and finding ways to improve my craft are always a blessing.**

Sincerely, Isaiah6933

Chapter 1: The Fearsome Duo Meet Ryder

As the squad car drove down the road, the police radio in the cruiser lay silent and still. But then, without warning, a bubbly yet serious voice came pouring out from within the machine's little speaker.

"All squads, we have a robbery in progress near the corner of Glen Park and Waterfall Drive." Said the voice, " I repeat, we have a robbery in progress near the corner of Glen Park and Waterfall Drive. All nearby units please respond."

From the passenger seat of the police car, a paw covered in rich red fur reached out for the radio and took hold of it. A black claw was pressed upon one of the radio buttons and a smooth voice answered, "Don't worry Clawhauser. Carrots and I got this one."

"Ok guys," Came the bright and warm voice of Clawhauser. "The shop being robbed is Ewe's Embroidery. Be careful"

Nick chuckled as the radio become quite anew. The fox set down the radio and cast his emerald eyes over his partner. Sitting next to him, driving the car with focus unwavering, was a rabbit named Judy Hopps. Her fur was grey as ash and her purple eyes were bright as flowers blooming in May.

"Can you believe that, Carrots? Clawhauser told us to be careful" Nick said putting a great deal of emphasis on us, "I am always careful. It's you he has to worry about." His partner long ears flicked over to the sound of his word for a moment. She was listening to him even if she never stole a glance at him.

A small smirk spread across Judy's face. "I admit I have done things that I guess are a little bit dangerous, but.."

Nick's cocked his brow, "A little, Carrots? You are the one who stole the train during that Bellwether mess. The same train, I might add, that exploded three minutes later because of the choices you made. And to top it all of your dragged poor little old me in all of it." He pouted and made his lower lip quiver in pretend pain.

"But…" Judy went on, unfazed by Nick playful jabs at the past they shared. "You were with me every step of the way. And since you always follow me into those situations Clawhauster has to worry about both of us."

Nick made no effort to deny her words or alter them in any shape. He only smirked and flicked the shades resting atop his head over his eyes and said, "Dumb Bunny,"

"Sly Fox," Judy said in kindness as she turned the wheel and sent the car down the right of the nearest intersection.

It was not long until they came to their destination. Tucked in between all the large hustle and bustle part of the city, filled with towers whose heads were high enough to scrape the sky, Ewe's Embroidery was best described in a single word: homely. Its colors were brilliant and cherry. Its simple sign was of one sheep sewing upon a quilt and another sewing upon a dress. Below was its name, printed out in well-sized bright black letters. Outside in the door, placing back in forth in worry across the display cases and the front door was a sheep wearing a wrist pincushion.

When the sheep saw Judy and Nick's car come down the road, she threw her arms up into the air and cried "Officers, oh thank goodness you're here. Please, you have to stop him!"

Judy parked the car and was out in a heartbeat. Notepad and carrot pen already in her paws as she hopped over the distressed sheep. Nick, not as hyper as his partner unless the situation demanded it, took his time getting out. He had just taken hold of the latch to the door to let himself out when Judy said, "Hello ma'am I am Judy Hopps. My partner coming out of the car is Nick Wilde. Please tell us everything from the beginning."

Rivers of tears fell into sheep's wool. "Everything was going until-" She began but halted once she saw Nick emerging from the vehicle. Strolling over to the two with paws in his pockets. Though he left his criminal life behind, Nick had not forsaken the skills he gained needed to survive the cold and cruel nighttime streets of the city. He caught the short sight of fear growing in the sheep's eyes and the slip of her mask falling for a spell showing her disgust. Nick observed these things and many more but paid them no heed. He had come across many people like this sheep before in his life. Too many to count. Too many to care about. One more made no difference to him.

"She is better at hiding it than most." Nick mentally commended the sheep at how fast she again hid her feelings from the fox and went on with weeping to Judy, who failed to observe her actions. The sheep had ceased speaking for only a heartbeat. To most, her pause of unkindness towards Nick sound more akin to a stutter brought upon by her terror and panic.

"Until he showed up." The sheep continued turning back to Judy.

"Who showed up Miss…?" Judy asked as Nick came over to her side.

"Mrs. Avon." The sheep said, "Everything was going great. Until that fox showed up. I was minding my own business when this hoodlum of a fox came into my shop. I asked of him there was anything I could help him with, and he…" Mrs. Avon paused again. She quivered. Her arms wrapped themselves around her torso, and a few shaking breaths passed from her lips. "He snarled and growled at me. Threatening to bite and tear into me if I didn't give him all the money in the register. I did as he asked, but before he ran off he stole one of my most expensive dresses."

Mrs. Avon took her hoof and pointed towards one of the two large display cases of the store. One of the mannequins had been knocked and stripped of whatever garment it was once wearing. The glass display case had been cracked by the heavy mannequin crashing against it. It was now only one good blow from being broken into countless shards.

Judy flipped over to a blank page of her notepad, "Can you give us a description of what the fox looked like ?" Judy asked setting her the ball of her pen on the paper.

Mrs. Avon took a few breaths of peace to collect herself before speaking. She held her hoof at the same height where the end Nick's stomach was and said, "He was about this tall. He had bright plum red eyes. And the color of his fur was very odd. It was a mixture of red and white."

Judy stopped writing and glanced at Nick. The duo both shared a glance of confusion with each before Judy went back to Mrs. Avon. "You mean the fox had pink fur?" Judy asked, "Since red and white together make pink."

Mrs. Avon shook her head, "No. I mean he literally had fur that was a mix of red and white. As in his fur was red with large patches of white fur all over his body. I had never seen anything like it before."

Judy scribbled down the culprit's appearance, and when asked about which way the criminal fox went, Mrs. Avon pointed further down the street information saying "He went that way. I saw him duck into that alley over there before I called the police. That was about five minutes ago." Judy put away her pad and pen and thanked the sheep for her time before she and Nick went jogging down the road. If there was a chance he was still near the alley than would be little harm to checking to see if he was still there, or if they could find a trail leading to him.

Once he was sure they were out of earshot from Mrs. Avon, Nick said, "Carrots when we find this guy let's go easy on him. There is a good chance he's just a kid."

Judy looked over at Nick. The wind pushing her long ears down behind her head. "How can you tell?" She asked with her nose twitching They came upon the alley. It was small and a mess. Uncollected garbage littered along the walls and puddles of fresh rainwater lay in the mud. Fearing his fellow fox may be near and overhear, Nick brought his voice down to whisper as they walked steadily through the alley.

"Because when she gave his height her hoof was level with my stomach. If you don't count any foxes born with dwarfism like Finnick than most foxes are kids when they are that tall. This could be the kid's first crime. He could be panicked and scared. And he may even attack us if we accidentally set him off."

Judy's face went from preparation into puzzlement. "How do you know what he may do?"

Nick's ears dropped and fell against his skull. His tail sagged and the tip was dipped into a puddle of cold water on that miserable summer day. "I knew a lot of kids like that growing up. Do what ya gotta do to survive and all that."

The pair ventured down the alley. They stopped when they came across an annoying obstacle. Impending them was a large chain link fence with bits of old rusted barbed wire atop it.

"He must've climbed over," Judy concluded while she used her eyes to look for clues and Nick made use of his nose. He wasn't a wolf, but a fox still has a sense of smell almost as keen as his claws. It took almost no time at all for them both to come across findings. Nick's nose led him to the scent of blood across the top of the fence. In addition to blood upon the barbs, there were patches of torn and ripped off clothing

"Whoever this guy is he isn't very good at climbing." Nick criticized, "He probably has a gash on his leg. So he may have a limp. He can't have gotten far."

"He also wasn't very good at covering his tracks." Judy pointed towards a pair of pawprints in the mud on the other side of the fence. The track began on the other side and led out through the alley. The space between each step was long, and their impression in the ground was deep. Whoever this fox was, the second he landed on the ground, he ran as fast and hard away from the crime as he could since then. Nick and Judy made their way over the fence, and unlike their target, they got down on the other side of the fence without a wound or tear to be seen on either of them. They followed wherever the muddy paw prints went. Across the road, through a crowd of civilians that were passing by, until at last they came to a park. Here the tracks died, but not the smell of blood since it lived on.

Nick and Judy ventured over to a small bridge hanging over murmuring brook and went to its underbelly. Beneath the bridge were over a dozen stones. Some small enough to skip across the water. Others large enough to sit and lay upon. It was here they found who they were looking for.

Sitting upon a wide rock was a fox. Nick was correct in his guess that the tod was a child, as he looked no older than six, and Mrs. Avon was correct when she said how his fur was both red and white. Whatever part of his coat was not vibrant scarlet was a wonderful white, bright and fair as the first blanket woven by winter. His silken coat was covered in dirt and grime, and his once splendid handsome clothes now bore cuts and rips upon them.

The boy's eyes were deep blue, and when he studied them, a gnawing started to eat away in the back of Nick's mind. Nick had met many foxes with eyes in the same color and same shape as the boy before him now. However, this time was unlike all of the others. This time, when he gazed upon the eyes of this child, something stirred in his heart. And for the life of him, he couldn't tell what it was.

The young fox didn't take notice of the two standing not so far away from him. All of his attention was upon his leg. His shirt had been removed from his torso and was being pressed against his right leg. The handsome colors of the shirt had been tainted by the spots of blood now along with it.

Within arm's reach of the boy lay splendid a black dress. The garment was embroidered with stars along the bottom and had seven comets running upwards towards the tip. The stars were as white as the sun but seven comets were each a color of the rainbow. But the dress, though still fair, was now ruined with mud stains all over it.

Nick and Judy stepped with cation over to the boy and Nick said, "Hey that cut doesn't look too good" as tenderly as he possibly could.

The boy gasped and whipped his head around like lighting. His panic exploded. He stood with a scream and grabbed the dress near him. He tried to run but to no avail. He took one step and the wound on his leg sent him to his knees. He whimpered as he held tightly on his wound thigh with one paw and the dress with the other. Nick's heart sank. This boy wasn't some hardened criminal out for blood. He was just some scared little kid. Meaning Nick and Judy treated him as such.

They both approached him with relaxed bodies and kind faces. "Hey, hey, hey" Judy spoke in a hushed and sweet tone, the same way she had done for her hundreds of little brothers and sisters back home, "There is no reason to be afraid. We aren't gonna hurt you. We just want to help you."

"I-I-I" the boy stammered, hindered by his sobbing. "I'm sorry!" he yelled crying more and more.

Nick covered his ears. The boy's screaming was like knives shoved in his skull. Yet in spite of her better hearing, Judy endured the pain better then Nick did, for she made no effort to cover her ears... She merely said in the same motherly tone as before, "It's ok. Everything is ok. No need to cry. Everything is ok now. You're safe. It's alright."

After being spoken in this way the boy ceased his weeping and wiped his nose on the fur upon his arm as he looked at Judy. "I am officer Judy. This is my partner Nick. We just want to talk to you. Is that ok?"

The boy hesitated and clutched the dress closer to himself before nodding. Judy smiled and thanked him for cooperating. Her eyes went down his wound, "But before we talk first things first. Let's get that leg healed up. We have a first aid kit back in the car." Judy arose and hopped off the rock as if it was on fire.

"It will be faster if I go, Nick. Watch him until I get back." The rabbit took off with all of the speed her species was famous for. She was long gone in two shakes of a tail, and Nick and the kit there left there by themselves. The river was the only one to make any sound for silence was growing between the two tods. A silence was growing until Nick cut it down.

"So…" He said drawing out one word for long as he thought was appropriate. "What's your name kid?"

"Ryder." the boy answered drying his wet eyes as best he could.

"Ryder?" Nick said a bit taken aback, "Like the Ryder from the fairytale?"

Ryder nodded and Nick chuckled, "Well I shouldn't be surprised since your fur is red and white. Anyway, I have to ask you something. Why did you take that dress?"

Ryder let his head fall in shame. The guilt was weighing down on every word he uttered. "I didn't want to steal it but I had to. My mom's birthday is coming up, and I wanted to get her something, but I didn't know what to do. Then I remembered when we were driving by the store and my moms face lit up when she saw the dress. I knew I had to get it. So I snuck out of the house with the money that I kept in my wallet." Ryder's lips quivered again as new tears formed and dripped down from his chin onto the rock he sat on. "But that mean lady said I couldn't have it 'cause I was a fox. I-I-I didn't know what to do. So I took it. Now I am a criminal and mama is gonna be mad at me, and I am gonna go to jail or be grounded!

Nick rested his butt on the edge of the same rock Ryder occupied. "You're not going to jail kid." He said with his classic sly smile plastered over his face.

"I-I'm not?" Ryder asked, his entire little body almost shining with hope.

Nick waved his paw in front of his face. "Nope. Carrots and I wouldn't let that happen. We will take you back to the shop so you can apologize and give the money you stole back, then after that, we will take you home."

Ryder became baffled by the older foxes words, "Money?" he asked, "I didn't steal any money."

'So that was a lie too,' Nick thought to himself as he acted like he was surprised by this revelation, 'The threat, stealing money from the store, that sheep probably just said those things so he'd get into more trouble. She could have even stolen the money herself then just blamed it on him.' Nick held back a growl. Anger grew hotter within him with each passing thought he spent dwelling on Mrs. Avon. An adult framing a child for a crime he didn't commit? There were few things lower Nick could think of than that.

Judy came rushing back under the bridge with the first aid kit in her paws. Using what little first aid training he had, Nick sprayed Ryder's wound with the disinfect. The white medicine bubbled and sizzled upon his injury. Ryder winced and whimpered at the pain, yet Judy assured him that this was for the best. The pain meant it was working and killing whatever bacteria sought to harm him. Once the disinfect finished it's work Nick tightly wrapped Ryder's hurt leg in a bandage, and Ryder placed his bloodied shirt back upon his person.

Again, Ryder tried to arise to his feet but could stand for more than the briefest of seconds before his pain pushed him to his knees. Judy decided that would be faster for them all, and better for Ryder, if Nick carried him in his back while she took the dress. Judy folded upon the garment as neatly as she was able to, and tucked under her arm while Nick helped Ryder on his back. All three left the park behind and made their way back to Ewe's emporium. Along the way, Nick informed Judy about all of the events from Ryder's point of view, as well as the child's name. To say that the rabbit was furious was a gross understatement.

When Mrs. Avon saw the state of her dress, she was seething with such fury. It was a wonder her white wool didn't dye itself red. "Look what you did to my dress!" She bellowed. Ryder flinched and hid his head behind Nick, and buried his face in the elder fox's back.

"I-I-I'm sorry." Ryder stammered out.

"Sorry doesn't fix what you did!" Mrs. Avon screamed

Though no growl came from his maw, Nick bared his fangs at the sheep, and within his emerald eyes shone a flash of ire as fierce as the heart of the world. Who was she to treat a little boy so unkindly? Mrs. Avon closed her mouth and took an unconsciously step away from Nick. Though the sheep may have been quick to regain her strength of mind, that would not prove useful against Judy. The rabbit pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and a smug smile was upon Mrs. Avon when she saw the silver cuffs dangle between the rabbit's paw.

Mrs. Avon's grin reached almost ear to ear, "It is awful that my dress was destroyed but at least I am glad that you are arresting him."

Judy's face was oozing cold fury, and her foot was thumping with terrible ferocity as she said, "I'm not arresting Ryder. I'm arresting you"

The smugness on Mrs. Avon's face shattered into a thousand pieces. Her face turned as pale as her wool and her voice, once dripping with confidence, came forth as broken cry. "What?! You can't do that! I haven't done anything wrong." She threw a frightened hoof in Ryder's direction, "Don't you understand?! He's the criminal. I'm the victim. He robbed me." She tossed her arm to the side gesturing to the cracked windows before pointing at the dress in her possession. "He damaged my property! What have I done wrong?!"

"You lied to the police." Judy said matter of factly, "You told us Ryder threatened you, but he did no such thing. Even if he did, you are an adult. He's a child. Any threat he made to you holds no weight. I know it, and you know it. Also, you told us he stole money from you, but we found no money on him other than his own. And since Ryder is so young we have the option of letting him off with a warning this time, and dropping him off in his house and letting his parents or guardians take care of him this time."

Judy approached the shaking sheep with her handcuffs at the ready. Mrs. Avon shook like a leaf in a way before bolting away as swift as she was able. Her efforts, however, were useless. Only a handful of species could beat rabbits in a contest of speed, and sheeps were not one of them. Judy sprinted down the road after her target, leapt into the air with her feet pointed ahead of her, and struck Mrs. Avon in the back with her feet. The sheep crashed into the ground and lay there as Judy stood atop her in victory.

'Now Carrots can add resting arrest to her crimes for the day today' Nick thought in glee while Judy read the sheep her rights and picked up Mrs. Avon off the ground.

Judy brought the cuffed Mrs. Avon over inside the car and put her in the back. Ryder looked as if he was going to throw up from terror at the aspect of having to sit with the sheep in the back of the car, but Judy came to his rescue once more.

"Don't worry Ryder" She chirped, "I won't let you sit near that big bad sheep. You can sit in Nick's lap until we arrive at the station."

Nick wanted to protest but kept silent. Ryder had enough of a bad day as it is. Nick voicing his complaint of having to bear the child on his lap no doubt would have only worsened the situation. Shoving his uncomfortableness down his throat, Nick put on his seat belt and wrapped his arms around Ryder's tummy. Judy drove to the police department and not a word was spoken by anyone the entire trip there. Judy kept her eyes on the road. Mrs. Avon lamented the turn of events that led to siting the back of police car with cuffs bounding. Ryder kept his eyes glued to the window, fascinated by the shops he had never seen before. Though he squirmed in Nick's arms for security as his eyes kept darting back to Mrs. Avon now and then. Nick was lost in the depths of his mind as he kept a strong hold upon the kit in his arms.

"Why do this kid's eyes look so familiar?" He thought, trying to sink further and further into the annals of his memory, "I know I've seen someone with his eyes before but where?" The harder Nick focused on this question the faster the answer slipped away from past his grasp. Nick gave up when the strain on his brain began to ache him.

'I can find out later.' he thought. 'It's more important we get the kid home. His mom is probably worried sick.'

They arrived at the police department within the hour. Nick undid his seatbelt and carried Ryder inside on his back while Judy almost dragged Mrs. Avon inside by the chain of her cuffs. With a push of his paw, Nick opened one of the large glass doors into the station.

The clash of hundreds of claws hitting a marble floor echoed over all the lobby. The ringing of phones filled every corner of the air. The atmosphere smelled of paper with a faint scent of donuts lingering about. Inside the station were both predator and prey alike. Tigers and lions, elephants and rhinos, buffalos and wolves. Each of them taller and stronger than Nick and Judy were combined. Even the smallest wolf officer there made it seem as if the fox and the rabbit were two out of places wonders, walking among a realm of giants.

Nick was almost choked as Ryder increased his grip around the older fox's neck when they walked to the receptionist desk. Behind the desk sat an overweight tall cheetah. Benjamin Clawhauser had a heart almost as large as his belly. He may have been born a predator with sharp claws and fangs, but his puggy face was as warm as the sunlight, and his smile was as sweet as sugar.

"Hey, Judy. Hey, Nick." Clawhauser greeted with his cheerful friendly face. "How did the robbery go?"

Ryder flinched at the mention of his crime and trembled while his arms wrapped themselves tighter around Nick's neck. Ryder held onto Nick so tightly even twenty tigers would have trouble ripping him off of the older tod. Nick's spirit fell. In Ryder's terror, Nick saw some of himself. He recalled how he felt just after the Junior Ranger Scouts incident. So alone. So afraid. Feeling as if the world sought to wrong you for merely being born. Nick hated seeing those feelings in himself. He pitied seeing them take shape in Ryder. He would not let them take root.

'The kid doesn't deserve to feel like this.' Nick thought, 'No one does.'

Nick gave his attention to Clawhauser and answered him by saying, "The robbery was a bit more complicated than we thought at first, but it all worked out in the end. Hey, Clawhauser, I gotta a question for you. What do you call a three humped camel?"

Judy groaned. Clawhauser head tilted in confusion and Ryder's ear perked up as Nick delivered the punchline, "Pregnant."

Nick didn't care if either Judy or Clawhauser didn't laugh. He even didn't care if he couldn't get so much as a smirk out of them. All Nick cared about at that moment was Ryder. The kit giggled at the joke. His body stopped shaking, and his red and white tail began wagging back and forth in joy.

And Ryder's joy was infectious as Judy smiled upon having his laughter fall upon her long ears, "Well, Nick, I will catch up with you and Ryder in a bit. I have to deal with this first…" She yanked on Mrs. Avon handcuffs and led the sorrowful sheep away to a jail cell and to get her mugshot taken. "Try to find out where Ryder lives. I'll meet you both of you in our office." She called out before she turned a corner and disappeared down a hall with Mrs. Avon in her grasp.

Following Judy's orders, Nick took Ryder to the cubicle he and the rabbit shared. One half of the cubicle was the territory of a rabbit she and he shared. On Judy's wall was an inspirational poster of the world-renown pop star Gazelle with the words 'Try everything'. Resting on her desk was a dozen pictures of all her hundreds of immediate family members. The only thing that stood out was one picture pinned directly above the computer. It was Judy and Nick on their first official day as partners. It showed the duo standing in front of their car, their backs to each other. Judy smiled at the camera with her go lucky grin, and Nick smirked whoever as he was taking their picture with a face that read 'I am clever as I am handsome'.

Over Nick's side of the cubital was a small tray of blueberries. Upon the wall were pinned photos of him and Finnick hanging out in the van of the small fox. Next to it was the same copy of the photograph Judy had above her computer of her and Nick posing to the camera.

The only framed photograph on Nick's side framed was of his parents. Once upon a time, John Wilde's fur was wholly red like his son's, yet time had changed his appearance a great deal since the prime days of his youth. His coat had lost is vibrant shade many years ago. Though what remained of its color was still there, his advancing age was told to all by the threads of grey growing around his face. Yet for a tod nearing his sixties, John still held his smile that was as lively as ever.

Holly Wilde had her son's face. Her orange fur retained the brightness of her youth. Though like her husband grey hairs dedicated her coat, and yet her beauty was unwavering. Humbleness was on her brow. Wisdom in her eyes and compassion was alive in her body as she had a loving arm wrapped around the waist of her husband.

Nick allowed Ryder to sit down in his chair while Nick grabbed hold of Judy's chair and rolled over to his computer. "So kid let's get to work on getting you home. What's your mom's name?" Nick asked. His claws hovering about the keys on the keyboard ready and waiting to type whatever information Ryder had that could help Nick and Judy get him home.

"Snowball," Ryder said with a face straight as an arrow.

Nick had typed half of the word until his brain caught up with him. He stopped and gave Ryder a flummoxed face " You're joking right?"

Ryder shook his head "Everyone my mama works with and her friends, all call her Snowball."

Nick huffed and propped his chin up with one paw while reaching for the tray of blueberries with the other, "So we have is a nickname is all we have to go, huh?" He said aloud to himself as he flung a blueberry in the air. The blueberry went high into the air, arched over till it was above Nick's head, and began to plummet down towards him. Nick, without looking, opened his mouth and let the blueberry fall on his tongue.

Ryder stared at Nick with big amazed eyes. Quick as he could, he took a pawful blueberry and tossed them into the air. Though not only did he grab too many at once, he threw them with all with too much force as well. The blueberries went sailing towards the ceiling, and with a sound smack there they remained. Nick glanced up to see a group of blue dots staining the white ceiling as bits of the fruit came falling like snow.

When the officer fox looked back at Ryder, he was greeted by a pink blush spreading across the patches of white going across the kits face. "I'm sorry," Ryder muttered.

Nick chuckled and patted Ryder playfully on his head, "Don't worry about it. Little blueberry juice never hurt anyone. Just try and throw em one at a time, and only threw them with a little power behind each time." Nick demonstrated by grabbing a second blueberry from the tray and tossing it into the air. Like the first before it, the second blueberry too landed masterfully in his mouth. "Your gonna miss a lot at first, but you'll get it down sooner or later."

Ryder beamed at Nick. He took another blueberry on his claw and tried once more. Although he failed, it was a new manner. This time around the blueberries ended up on the floor as opposed to the ceiling. Ryder kept tossing them up the right but missed each time.

"Can you think of anything else that might help?" Nick asked as another missed blueberry hit Ryder on his forehead, "What's your last name?"

"I don't know," Ryder answered as he took and tossed his seventh blueberry. "Everyone calls me either Ryder or Master Ryder" The falling blueberry hit him on his forehead before landing onto the ground

Nick raised his brow "Who calls you Master Ryder?"

Ryder switched from grabbing blueberries to counting the digits on his paws and feet. "Anthony, Chris, Ed, Tim, Rachel, Kelly, Martha, Alice, Abby, Jane, Eric, Larry and, Jack. Oh, and Mr. Hall calls me Sir Ryder."

"And these people are?" Nick rolled his paw in Ryder's direction urging the boy to go on.

"Anthony, Mark, Joe, Chris, Ed, and Tim are the butlers. Kelly, Martha, Alice, Abby, and Jane the maids. Eric, Larry, and Jack are the cooks. Mr. Hall is my teacher who comes out to my house and teaches me boring stuff while mama works in her music room."

Nick sat there dumbfounded. He staring at Ryder as if the tod had grown a second head. By the sounds of it, Ryder's family had wealth to rival Mr. Big himself. Shaking off his shock Nick went back to questioning his fellow vulpine. "Can you think of anything else?"

Ryder paused a moment for exclaiming "Oh, mama said we live in a penhouse!"

"A penhouse?" Nick repeated unsure if heard the boy correctly.

"Yeah." Ryder said excitedly as he fidgeted in his chair, "It's a big house that is really really really high up in the sky. And when you look out over the window at night time, you can see the whole city. Mama and I love to watch all pretty lights and the stars from there before I have to go to bed."

It took a second for Nick to figure out Ryder meant to say penthouse, instead of penthouse. 'Well, that narrows down where he could live. I think of only a few hotels in the city that have the kind of view he is talking about' Nick thought as he pressed the power button on his computer and put the machine into sleep mode.

"Come on kid," Nick said, picking up Ryder and putting him on his back.

"Where are we going, Mr. Nick?" Ryder asked as the two left the cubicle and made their way to the front entrance.

"We're going to look for your home," Nick said when once they were again outside. "If your house is really as tall as you say, you may be able to see it from here." Nick brought Ryder up to his shoulders and took care to not harm the child's wounded leg while doing so. Nick pointed to the skyline of Zootopia and Ryder eyes scanned each skyscraper he came across.

Less than a minute passed before he shouted, "There it is!"

Nick followed Ryder's pointing claw, and once he saw the building in question his jaw dropped. Of all the skyscrapers in the city Ryder had pointed to the largest, and grandest, one of them it.

The Towering Tree was a hotel known far and wide across the world. At night it was dressed in lights of emerald and sapphire flowing down all of its body, like the roar of rushing water over a fall. In the day its bricks of white shimmered like gems embedded in pale sand, and its golden spire upon its shone as if wrought of sunlight itself. In the past, a multitude of famous icons from across many generations had stayed within its walls. From beloved musicians to powerful politicians, to interviews that shape the future. It was a place for most influential of mammals, and wealthiest of the wealthy as well, for even if Nick had saved up every penny he earned as an officer of the law for the next nine years, he would only be able to afford a single night on the lowest floor of the seven-star resort.

Realizing Ryder's mother was one of, if not the most, wealthiest vixen in all of Zootopia Nick was compelled to ask, "What does your mom do for a living?"

"Mama writes the songs Auntie Zel sings," Ryder said smiling. His fangs flashing with pride for his mother.

"Zel?" Nick said the taste of the toxic name left a strange sensation on his tongue.

"Yeah." Ryder gave a massive gasp, "You don't who she is? But Miss Judy had a poster of auntie Zel in her office."

Nick eyes almost jumped out of his head, "Your mom writes songs for Gazelle" Suddenly the source of wealth Ryder become clear. "When Carrots find out she's gonna flip," Nick muttered to himself. No sooner did he say this did Judy herself come walking out.

"When I found out what?" She asked with her foot thumping, "I thought you were gonna find out where Ryder lived so we can get him home. Why are you out here staring into the distance? And why are there blueberries all over the ceiling and floor in our office?"

For a second time in less than an hour, Ryder blushed. With pinked cheeks, he opened his mouth but Nick cut him off before a sound escaped his throat.

"I tripped." Nick lied, "The kid wanted some blueberries while I was working, so I scooted the tray closer to him. After a while, I forget they were there. Later I tripped, and when I tried to grab onto something to catch myself, I grabbed onto the plate and well…"

Judy buried her face in her paws. "Oh Nick what am I going to do with you?" she groaned. "That still doesn't answer my other question. What are you guys doing outside?"

By the end of Nick's little story, Judy went from flowing with frustration to gushing of glee. Her love of Gazelle almost rivaled Clawhauser's own level of admiration for the idol. Getting to meet the mind behind her music was almost a dream too good to be true, for the first rabbit officer. She ran to the car as fast as her legs could carry her but came to a grinding halt halfway through.

"No," Judy said to herself taking a deep breath, "I have to act professionally." Judy may have claimed down a great deal on the outside for the most part, yet cotton betrayed as it twitched with zeal.

Nick and Ryder chuckled at the rabbit antics. Through Ryder did his best to stifle his laughter. "Miss Judy is funny." He said

"Carrots has her moments," Nick admitted as he walked over the car with the kit resting atop his shoulders.

Getting as low as he could to Nick's ears, Ryder whispered, "And thank you, Mr. Nick. I'm sorry you had to cover for me."

Nick waved Ryder's gratitude and apology to aside, "Don't worry about it. Saving you from Carrots reprimanding you is the least I can do. Besides, I don't think I'll be able to save from your mom when we bring you home. If she's like my mom when I was your age than she'll be overjoyed and very mad when you got from sneaking out."

Ryder swallowed the lump of fear swelling in his throat as Nick opened the back door and placed the child inside. Letting Ryder buckle himself, Nick took his place in the passenger seat. With Judy at the wheel, the three were off to The Towering Tree.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A big thank you to everyone who read the last chapter. It already has over a hundred views. That is mind-blowing to me. Seeing people like and read my work never fails to make me smile. And a thank you as well to those who left a review. Again, another thing that earned a great big grin out of me was seeing the comments people had to say about my work. I just hope you all this chapter as well. **_

**_A special thank you to Zacian- Galar Legendary for being my superb spell checker._**

* * *

Chapter 2: A Big Revelation

Because the tallest thing she had ever seen in her life before coming to the city was her family's farm, Judy had she been beside herself when she first arrived Zootopia. The tallest of the buildings looked as if they went to places where the clouds themselves could never reach. The life and noise of eight million mammals going about their day were in stark contrast to the sweet silence that permeated the rabbit's massive grassy backyard. Upon the city, the light of the golden sun danced a different dance and sang a different song then it had done for her done back home. On her first day, when Judy stepped off the train and took her first breath of air, she believed had seen the fully glory Zootopia. But the second she took one step into The Towering Tree hotel, she saw how wrong she had been. For the first glance of the building, inner greatness proved to eclipse her fairest dreams.

The ceiling was carved from a stone as strong as the mountains, and as sublime as the stars of yore. All things sculpted of wood there had a brilliant luster upon them, so great and grand, they overshadowed nigh all precious stones hidden in the gloom. The air smelled of flowers sweet as honey, and the music as smooth as silk warmly embraced the hearts of all who heard it. The argent chandelier brought down majesty and wonder upon all things its light kissed. The carpet was cool and soothing to all weary and walking feet to tread upon it, like dew laid upon the grass in the gentle dawn.

"Wow." Was all Nick and Judy could say as they stood there in the lobby of the Towering Tree.

"What is it?" Said Ryder glancing around the room from his place upon Nicks back, "Did you guys see something cool?"

"This place is the cool place we are seeing Ryder," Judy said still drinking in the sights of the room around them. "I mean, I can't believe you live in a building like this."

With his arms still wrapped around Nick's neck, Ryder did his best attempt of a shrug, "I guess. The lobby is ok. But my house is way better, and your and Mr. Nick's office was pretty neat too."

In good spirits, Nick laughed at Ryder while the younger fox looked at the elder tod confused by Nick's amusement. "Everything is relative I suppose," Judy mused.

The trio walked up the front of the desk. There, behind the body of deep mahogany, was a deer. Her white shirt was pressed and freed from the smallest of wrinkles. Her black jacket had no lingering lint answering it. And her caramel-colored fur was groomed to perfection.

The deer paid the three no mind when they approached her. Her mind and body were lost in her work. Her right hoof was writing something down on paper with precise penmanship. Her left hoof was typing away on the keyboard on her computer, while her eyes were roving across the screen. Tucked upon her shoulder and under her ear was a phone. With flawless clarity, she was talking away to whoever was on the other line as her tongue flew faster than Judy what thought was possible.

"Excuse Miss, we-" Judy started but was halted from speaking any further by the deer holding her hoof no longer than a half a second. The deer's short action screamed 'I am busy. Wait until I am done.' with authority and power to overshadow Chief Bogo himself.

Judy had been known to bounce back from more than a few nasty bumps she had encountered in her life. Gideon Grey bullying and wounding her cheek when she was a child, her first day as a police officer spent being a meter maid, her misspeaking at the press conference that drove a line between predator and prey, and between her and Nick. However, the unconquerable strength in which deer commanded her to be silent and wait, deflated her faster than a balloon struck by a million needles.

"Let me try, Carrots," Nick said to the crushed bunny. He stepped closer to the desk and put on a persona Judy was all too familiar with. It was the same manner he used to swindle the rabbit out of her money the day they had met. Nick released his arms from the task of holding onto Ryder, leaving the kit to hold onto by his limbs, as Nick laid his arms across the desk and smiled at the deer.

Friendly and trusting. Showing off his many fangs all white as pearls, he smiled at the dutiful deer," Hello, Miss but I-" Smack.

Nick yelped, jumping away from the desk with his left arm in the tender care of his right. He rubbed where the deer had struck him with one of her hard and strong hooves, and before he could voice his question the doe's sanity she gave him a brief glare, so ferocious it would have frozen a savage panther in its tracks. The deer returned to her work without delay ignoring the two officers.

"Susan doesn't like it when strangers put their arms on her desk" Ryder whispered.

"Maybe a little warning next time, kid." Nick grumbled, "Why don't you give it a shot then? You live here."

Ryder raised one paw in the air and waved happily to the deer, "Hi, Susan." He cheered.

Never taking her eyes off of the computer, nor slowing down the speed of her working hooves or her speech the deer absentmindedly said: "Hi, Ryder."

Surprise struck and possessed Susan' shape. The fake plastic smile on her lips burned to ash. Her writing hoof let the pen slide of the paper and onto the counter. Her hoof typing away at two words per second went still as stone. She tore her face from the screen and focused on Ryder and him alone. No sounds came from her closed mouth even though the mammal on the other end of the phone was still speaking.

"Pardon me, sir," Susan said slowly to whoever was on the other line, as she stared at Ryder as if he was the eighth wonder of the world. "An emergency has come up that requires my immediate attention." She hung the phone up without letting the person on the other end finish speaking.

It all happened so fast. One second Susan raced around her desk with enough speed to make the fastest cheetah alive green with envy. In the next second, Nick was on the ground in a daze. And in a third, Ryder was in the deer's loving embrace being assaulted by her many kisses. Susan whirled around with the tod in her arms. The wind lifting her skirt above her ankle before it fell back into place.

"We were all so worried about you!" She said as her tears fell upon Ryder's face and washed away some of the dirt on his coat "Where have you been? What happened to you? Look at you. You're filthy. Oh my gosh is that blood?! I'll call an ambulance!" Holding Ryder up by one arm Susan sent her free hoof flying over the phone on her desk.

"Susan I'm fine." Ryder's declaration, while not believable in the slightest, caused Susan to freeze where she stood with the shadow of her hoof laying over the phone. Now seeing a chance to speak presented itself, Judy took the time to explain how she and Nick had come across Ryder. Where the boy had gone. Why he was such a state now, and Ryder's reasoning for sneaking out of his home.

Susan thanked Judy and Nick over a hundred times over for returning Ryder home and apologized for her earlier behavior towards the two. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you both take him to his penthouse." She asked handing Ryder gently back to Nick, "I'd do it myself but as you saw before I am swamped with work at my desk."

Judy smiled, "We'd be happy to."

Susan informed Judy and Nick on what level Ryder's penthouse was and how to get there before getting back to her unforgiving job. Judy glanced back at the deer before she stepped onto the elevator with Nick and Ryder in front of her. Peace warmed Judy's chest when she saw Susan's delighted smile glowing with glee. It wasn't the same fake smile Susan wore before. It was a real one, as her joy flowed from her delighted face.

It took a long while for the elevator to give a soft ding and part its sliver doors open for the three. Nick and Judy stepped out. Following Susan's instructions, they come to a hotel door with the number 5519 on it. Below the rooms number, printed in white was the name, Edith. And below Edith still, was the name Ryder made up of a mixture of red and white letters.

Nick snickered at seeing the names on the door and Ryder had the faintest blush on his cheeks.

"What's so funny, Nick?" Judy asked starting back and forth at the names on the door and the two foxes, trying to unearth what was so comical.

"Nothing, Carrots." He said, "Just a little joke between us foxes. I'll tell you about it when we are done here."

Judy rolled her eyes and knocked on the door. The echo of graceful and quick strides drawing near bounced off of the bunny's eardrums. The doorknob jingled and turned. When the door drew back, it revealed another rabbit behind it.

He was dressed in a neatly pressed black and white suit. The tip of his ears reached a tad higher then Judy's own. His fur was the shade of sand in the desert, and standing across the bridge of his nose was a gathering of black spots. With his back straight and unbending, he held himself as tall as he could. His face was blank and free of all emotions.

"Good evening, Madam," He said bowing gracefully to Judy. His voice was reunified as tempered steel and his movements were elegant and fair. He turned to Nick and treated the red fur officer with the same respect he had done with Judy. "Good evening, Sir," He said, giving another bow before returning to standing upright.

"How may I help you today?" The formal rabbit asked.

"I think you guys lost this," Nick said hosting Ryder up higher upon his back.

When Ryder's chin rested upon Nick's shoulder the child said "Hi, Jack" to the well dressed buck.

When Jack saw the kit, what he did was surprising to Judy. Because he did nothing. Jack did not jump in joy at Ryder's return. He drew in no gasp of the shock out from his throat. Neither his face or his eyes gave any hints as to what he was feeling. His ears, tail, and nose all remained motionless. Was he happy? Sad? Angry? It was impossible for Judy to guess, let alone tell.

He merely said, "Master Ryder, my troubled heart is soothed knowing you are home and alive. However, my soul is harmed in seeing you in such a horrid state. You cursed us with terrible anxiety upon your disappearance ." in the most mundane manner Judy had ever heard anyone speak in.

Ryder's ears fell and his tail curled around under his legs. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"You shall be forgiven later." Jack told his master, "Come, I shall tend to you." The butler stepped aside and invited Nick and Judy in.

The main hallway that was in Ryder's home was breathtaking in of itself. All things reflected off the spotless clear marble floor came back as if they were from a mirror. Within each wall of rock were carven the shapes of stars and flowers. All painted to be brighter than the greatest rainbow. Had Jack not ushered them along, it is quite possible Nick and Judy would have remained standing there looking at the walls and the wonder they held.

The "first-floor living room" as Jack had called, was thirtyfold larger than Judy's whole apartment. In fact, the flat-screen television was wide and tall to hold five of her beds on it with room to spare. To the west, the wall was made of naught but thick crystal clear glass. It offered a view, unlike anything Nick and Judy had known in all of her days. Half of the city faced the west wall, and so half of the city and more was free to admire from its standpoint. When they gazed out of the window the tallest of the scapers and highest of clouds were below them. Far away, beyond all the metal and stone wrought by blood and sweat, lay a ten thousand jaded hills of grass. The railways leading into and out of the city, that bore trains massive and swift, to them upon high were nothing more than thin strings stretching into lands beyond all sight. The sun walked across the sky in a sublime fashion in a way, unlike anything Judy could have imagined. The fairness of its flame summoned misted water to her blinking eyes. A part of her desired to stare out the window until the end of forever, yet Jack calls broke her out of her fantasy.

"Please sit Master Ryder upon the couch, Sir." Jack requested of Nick. Nick did what was asked of him and rested Ryder upon the cloud white and soft cushion, and Jack picked up the remote to the flat screen T.V and gave it to Ryder.

Ryder study the controller for a second before looking at his rabbit servant, "Where is everyone, Jack? It's almost never this quiet."

"They have all gone off in search of you," Jack said fishing a paw through his breast pocket. "Once we all realized you had snuck out of the house everyone left to find you. I volunteered to stay behind in case you returned, or if any new of your whereabouts was brought here. I am going to call your mother and tell you are home. When she found you disappeared, I feared she was going to have a heart attack than and there."

Ryder's hung his head and Jack excused himself into the next room with his ringing phone in paw.

Judy walked over and knelt in front of Ryder. "What's wrong Ryder?".

The young fox sniffled. "I've never seen Jack that scared before. I didn't mean to scare everyone. I just wanted to get mama a gift for her birthday."

Judy gathered all her compassion into her words and rested her tender paw upon his knee, "I know, and that was a nice thing for you to want to do. But, you can't sneak out of the house like that. You got hurt because of it and were it not for Nick and me, well, I don't want to think about what would have happened to you after that. Look, I don't doubt your mother loves you very much. She'd probably love something you made with your own two paws than any fancy dress. Isn't that right Nick?"

There was no answer. Judy looked and found Nick sniffing the air. Something had come over him. Judy arose as Nick got brought his face down to the couch Ryder was sitting in. "Nick, what are you doing?" She asked baffled by the fox's odd behavior

Nick sniffed more and more. Each time using greater force. "I smell something." He simply said.

The fox kept on wandering where his nose led him until he stopped at the spot closest to Ryder. Nick sniffed a while longer, and soon he gasped. Ripping himself from the couch, Nick shot into the air like a bullet being fired from a gun. He studied the spot near Ryder with such intensity he was almost unrecognizable.

Judy grew worried. She watched the gears turn in his head as he unveiled something which shook him to his core. His body quivered, his breathing became labored. He kept his eyes on Ryder and suddenly Nick looked ill. Like he was going to throw up or collapse.

"Nick?" Judy called out to him afraid of what coming of over him. Her words reached deaf ears.

"Ryder," Nick said looking at the boy with an iron-strong gaze, but speaking to him with a small shaking voice. Nick pointed to spot where he had finished sniffing, "Does your mom sit here? Right in this spot when you both look out and watch the city at night?"

Confused Ryder tilted his head, "Yeah, she sits there and I sit here. Sometimes we move around but we mostly just sit here."

"Where are a paper and pen?" Nick asked and the fear in his tone was all but palpable

Ryder pointed to a notebook and a pen on the glass table. "Mama uses that to write her song ideas in but I don't-"

Nick snatched the notebook and the pen from the glass table without a second thought. He furiously flipped through it. Stopping when he found a blank sheet of paper. What he wrote down on the note Judy couldn't see. But when he was done he tore the paper from its metal ring bindings and folded it four times.

Nick gave the note to Ryder saying, "Ryder, I need you to give this note to your mom. Make sure she gets its. But you can't look at it no matter what. Do you understand? No one but your mom can see this ok?"

Ryder took the note in his little paws and looked up at Nick. His big eyes brimming with curiosity, "Um ok Mr. Nick. But why can't you give it to mama? I think she'll think she be home soon."

"You are correct Master Ryder," Jack said walking back in the room, putting his phone in his pocket. His steps were silent as a shadow stretching across the ground. "Your mother informed me, she and the others are on their way right now. She said she will be back in half an hour at the latest. Also, she told me to you, Master Ryder, that you are grounded for three months."

"Three months!" Ryder cried dismayed.

"Be grateful. At first, was five months. However, I talked her down to three." Jack looked at Ryder with the ghost of a smile that was on his lips for the smallest fraction of a second before he became neutral again.

Nick looked at Judy with the same desperate fleeing face he had when it dawned on him when they were snooping around in the car of a crime boss. "Judy, we need to go now." Judy could count on one paw the number of times Nick called her by her name. And no matter when or where he did use it there was always it meant. The fox was deathly serious.

Nick grabbed her by her paw and took her away from the room, but before they left, he turned back to Jack.

"Can I trust you to look after Ryder until his mom gets back?" Nick questioned the rabbit.

Jack was silent at first, but soon his answer came through. "Sir, I am well grateful to you and to Miss Hopps, I may seem like an emotionless rabbit, but I love the master more than any action can tell. I was the first one to be in service of the Madam. For almost half of his life, I have watched over master Ryder. When I heard had he vanished it took all my power and will to not faint. It matters not if a horde of tigers charged from the door. I would lay them all low with no more than my buck teeth before I let one of the lay a claw upon the master."

Fear departed from Nick for a time. Joy again took its place upon him. He smiled and thanked Jack, and dragged Judy out of the penthouse. Judy gave a rushed farewell to Ryder, and Ryder too waved her goodbye as she was taken from his home, and when they were down the hall Ryder shouted: "And Mr. Nick I promise I'll get the blueberry trick down the next time I see you." Judy heard how Ryder's words made Nick's heart skip a beat.

When they were outside the door again Judy's brain was rattling with questions. Why did Nick want to leave in such a hurry? Why didn't he want to leave without meeting Ryder's mother? What was on the note he wrote to her?

Judy wanted to prob Nick for information and was intending to. But when she looked at him, any desire she had to find out answers died then and there. It was the first time she had seen Nick cry. He stared at the name of Edith on the door. A lone tear slid down his cheek. He turned away and made his way to the elevator without a word. What choice was Judy left with but to follow him?

The ride down to the lobby was too long for Judy's liking. The silence was strong enough to choke her, and the heaviness in the atmosphere was enough to push down on her spine. Nick may have been the larger of the two, but now? Now he seemed so small and weak. It was a pathetic and pitiful sight. Judy wanted nothing more than to ease his pain. But any attempts to try and comfort him were for naught. She called to him yet he acted as if she wasn't there. His eyes were set ahead, and they looked lost in a mist thicker than stone.

Slowly Judy budding desire for the truth grew again. When the doors to the elevator opened Nick stepped out and Judy asked him, "Nick, please tell me what is wrong." Nick gave her no response. He walked out of the hotel and got in the police car without making the smallest sound. He gripped the steering wheel tightly in his paws and drove them both away from the hotel as fast the law permitted him to. He never looked back.

He never answered any of the pleading questions Judy proposed to him. He just kept on driving back to the police station in saddening silence.

When the pair arrived at the station and went through the glass door they were greeted to face of a furious cape buffalo looming over them. Chief Bogo was a tower of muscle with a hard mind sharp as the two curved horns atop his head. Twenty years on the force had hardened his voice with a strength that few could bend, and none could break. His nostrils were flaring and his booming cry towards Nick made Judy's fur quiver in fear.

"Wilde!" He cried, "What have you done to your office?! It's a mess. Your blueberries are all over the floor and the ceiling! We are running a police department. Not a cafeteria for toddlers! Get in there and clean it up this instant!"

All eyes of the officers were on Nick and Bogo. More than a few of them had smiles on their faces as they glanced at the two. In the past couple of weeks since Nick had come to fall under the command of Bogo, a certain routine had been set between the two. Nick would often do something, whether purposefully or otherwise, to get on Bogo nerves. Bogo would always respond with anger and yell at Nick. Nick would return his words with a wisecrack or a joke that inspired humor to thrive in the dull workspace of the police department, and Bogo again would yell at him. At the end of the day it was all good fun and everyone knew Bogo's threat to fire Nick were hollow as the air. But what Nick was to say next took the building, and the hearts of all who knew him, by storm.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry. I'll clean it up right away" Nick replied. His voice was empty and obedient. A multitude of shocked gasps was born, and if it had not been for Bogo's yelling, a deep hush would have fallen over.

"I'm not in the mood for your jokes Wilde!" Bellowed Bogo, "If you don't-" realization hit the chief of police harder then the charge of a hundred stamping elephants. He paused. His gasping jaw was frozen in place. "Wait. What did you say to me, Wilde?"

"I said I will clean up my mess, Sir" Nick replied again with same unfilled words as before. He went away to fetch a rag and ladder leaving a stunned buffalo and worried rabbit in his wake. If he saw any of the strange looks his colleagues were throwing his way he didn't acknowledge them.

It was a rare thing, seeing Bogo speechless. When he regained his voice "Well then, uh, good Wilde. That's what I like to hear." Was all he could manage to let out.

Bogo turned Judy. "Hopps what happened out there. I thought you and Wilde were just taking a missing kid back to his house?"

Judy had no good answer for Bogo, and this made her bitter to the bone.

When she found Nick in their shared office he was on the ground picking up the blueberries dropped by Ryder.

"If you need me, Nick, I'll be working on some paperwork." She said, but Nick propped up the ladder and climbed it without so much as glancing at her.

The only proof he even heard her was his ears, and how they turned to her when she spoke. While he scrubbed away the blue dots on the ceiling with a wet rag, Judy sunk into her chair. With her carrot pen, she wrote and filled out countless sheets of mind-numbing paperwork. Unfocused on her task, her thoughts went drifting. She cooked up various methods in her brain to get something, anything, out of Nick. She tried corny jokes and tales with painful puns in them. Nick loved those kinds of things but failure was her only reward.

'I'd never thought I'd' miss his endless yapping.' She thought.

When his cleaning was done, Nick put the ladder and rag away. He said nothing to Judy or anyone else for the rest of the day. He just sat in his chair and buried himself in his work. The remaining blueberries on his tray went uneaten and untouched. Both were a disturbing thing to see from someone like him.

But after what felt like forever, Judy heard Nick faintly humming a song to himself. The tune was unfamiliar to her. The notes were still splendid and sweet, even if they came from a mouth so broken and bitter. When she asked him what song it was he was silent again, and Judy wished she had kept her mouth shut.

The sun went down and took the light of day with it. The moon and the stars illuminated the gloom the night. A choir of crickets sang and slew the silence. Cool air brushed past Judy's cheeks as she and Nick stood outside the station. Their shifts were over. It was time for them to part ways and go back to their respective homes.

Nick was staring up at the Towering Tree hotel. Even without following his eyes she knew he was looking up at Ryder's home. Words had failed Judy, so she spoke with action. She placed a comforting paw on Nick's back as she too joined him in gazing up the hotel home of the fox with two colors on his coat. Nick walked away. He bid her no farewell. He just left. Judy's only remaining company being the moths flying overhead in search of the light they loved.

'He'll be better tomorrow' Judy told herself, hoping she would fall for her own lie. She didn't. And that night when she went to sleep, she slipped into an uneasy slumber. Her thoughts pondering Nick and her heart praying for his well being. And when the sun rose upon a new day, Judy found her worry was well-founded.

In the bullpen was where all most officers of ZPD began their day. It was the same thing each time. The chief would walk in, tell everyone to quiet down, give them their assignment, and walk out. It was simple, short, and effective. Normally, due to their smaller size when compared to gigantic chairs in the room, Judy and Nick had more than enough room to sit in the same seat. But today the rabbit cop sat alone. Her partner was nowhere to be seen.

Bogo came marching in, a few files under his arms. He set them on the podium and gave them off to each officer in the room. When he came to Judy he said "Hopps, Wilde called in sick this morning so you'll be doing parking duty until he gets back. We don't have enough men to spare for you to have a partner today, and I don't want to put on any of my officers on a serious case alone."

Judy frowned. The parking duty was a blow to her spirits, but when compared to being alone, without Nick beside her, it was a blow she could bear better than she had done in the past. The drive around the city giving out tickets nobody wanted was not too different from the first. Parking meters went ding and Judy jumped into action, ticketing each car she came across. She got the occasional complaint of "What? I was only a second late" or "You've got to be kidding me! I was on my way to pay". But on the whole, most greeted with her respect and kindness. Being the rabbit who helped save the city from tearing itself apart had its benefits. Although, Judy cared nothing for either complaints or complaints given to her today. As she sat in the car, her head leaning on the hard steering wheel, all her mind could linger on was Nick. Was he ok? Was he really sick or was it something else? She just had called and texted him over a dozen times since her shift began. Each message that went unanswered added to her worry. And now she had enough.

"I can't sit here and do nothing," Judy told herself.

She reached for the radio and told Clawhauser she was going to take a thirty-minute break while she typed a specific address into her phone. In her G.P.S, a blue path appeared across the white digital map of the city. Judy turned on the engine and followed the path until its end.

Soon her car sat parked in a restful suburban neighborhood. She walked up a gentle incline of a tiny mound of grass, making her way up to a wide and small white house atop the hill. Its roof was black and before the house there stood an oak tree that was older than all buildings and other plants near it. Judy walked across the brick pathway. Stopping only when the front door was within arms reach.

She knocked. No answer. She knocked again, this time harder and stronger than the last, but got the same result. She knocked a third time saying, "Nick, its Judy. Open the door, please. I'm worried about you." No sound came from within the house. Judy pressed her ear to the door and heard nothing again. She stepped away and saw a tiny glimpse of red fur in the window before the curtains were shut and blocked her vision from inside.

"Nick, come on. Please just talk to me. I just want to help you. Whatever is going on I am sure we can get through it together. " Judy's pleas were all in vain. No movement stirred on the curtains. No sound of feet coming to the door. Her time had been wasted, but Judy had not made this far in her life by giving up. Especially when it came to the people she loved.

Once she had taken her seat back in her car, ready to make a call, Judy pulled out her phone. But before she dialed any number she had to find out something about Ryder's mother. It wasn't hard to find out her name. When a vixen writes the songs for one of the world's most beloved musicians of the generation, finding a name out is child's play. Judy merely typed 'Songwriter for Try Everything by Gazelle' into her phone, but was stumped by the name that popped up across the small screen.

The name didn't read Edith, as Judy believed it would. Instead, the name was Kayla Ainsworth. Choosing to double-check her sources, Judy dug up some information on this Kayla. All of the information she found out over the next few minutes was basic as it could have been, but all of it matched with what little Judy knew about Ryder himself. Kayla was a vixen who lived in The Towering Tree hotel with her only child named Ryder Ainsworth. No pictures of Kaylan were online, but Judy already had what she needed. She wrote Kayla's name on her notepad and dialed up a number on her phone.

The phone rang for a bit before a sweet voice on the other line politely answered, "Hello? Wilde Residence. Holly Wilde speaking."

Judy buried all her worry down the deepest hole in her heart and happily said, "Hi. Mrs. Widle. "

"Judy? Is that you?" Holly asked sweetly. "Well, this a pleasant surprise. How've you been?"

"I am doing fine." She lied, "But there something I-"

"Who's on the phone, dear?" Came the gentle and warm voice of John Wilde from off in the distant.

"It's Judy honey." His wife answered calling out to him from wherever he was in the house.

"Judy?" John said. His tone was growing excitement, and his voice was growing louder as he drew closer. "Well don't just stand there hogging the phone all to yourself. Put the girl on speakerphone."

Judy couldn't help but giggle. Nick's parents fell in love with the rabbit the moment they met her. They adored her for being the one to set Nick on a better path, and she adored them well. In many ways reminded her of her own parents. Caring, welcoming, and much to Judy's pleasure and Nick's dismay, Holly loved embarrassing her son by looking through photographs of Nick as a little baby whenever Judy took the time to visit.

"How are you doing Judy?" John asked gleefully.

"I am doing fine Mr. Wilde." Judy lied again, "I am sorry if I'm bothering you but I was hoping you both could help me with something."

Holly and John laughed together. "You're never a bother dear," Holly said. "We'd be happy to help you. What do you need? And how is Nick?"

Judy winced. "That's just it Nick isn't doing well. Please tell me, does the name Kayla Ainsworth mean anything to either of you?" Judy asked.

Barring their gasp, Holly and John went dead silent. It was as if the name was a key that unlocked a door that should have stayed forever closed. Already a pit of distress was swelling in Judy's chest.

All traces of joy where no to be found in John Wilde. "Judy, where did you hear that name?" He asked with an eagerness boarding on demanding.

Judy told them everything about yesterday. From getting the call of the robbery to finding Ryder, to arresting Mrs. Avon, to taking Ryder home and Nick's alarming attitude ever since. All throughout the retelling Holly and John were listening to every single word. Never once did they stop nor interrupted Judy. Never once did they give a comment to each other. They merely listened and no more.

"So, can you guys please tell me what is going on?" Judy begged, "I'm worried about Nick."

Holly spoke up in a somewhat quivering tone. "Judy we want to tell you, but we can't."

"Why not?" asked the rabbit officer gripping tightly onto the phone.

"Because we have no right to tell you, or anyone else," John said solemnly. "Nick would never forgive us if he found out we told you about Kayla without his permission. I am sorry Judy but if you want to find out anything, and if Nick won't talk, that only leaves Kayla. I'm sorry, really I am. But we love and respect Nick's privacy to tell you about this."

Judy relented and sighed, "I understand Mr. Wilde. Thank you. Hope you and Mrs. Wilde have a great day"

"Thank you, Judy. Stay safe out there, and thank you for calling and telling us about Ryder." He said. An ember of happiness was lit in his soft words.

Judy hung up and went through a mental listing of her work schedule in her head. The coming Saturday was the closest time she would have to be off. Her eyes went into the horizon. The Towering Tree was standing there. A giant among giants. A titan among titans. A fire had been ignited inside the belly of the rabbit. She drove back to work with a new spark kindling the blaze within her soul. Judy swore she would speak to Kayla and find out the truth. Even if it was the last thing she ever did. When Saturday rolled around Judy awoke with bright energy. She took a shower, got dressed, skipped breakfast, and made her way over the seven-star hotel in her old rickety blue pickup truck.

Judy arrived at the door to the home of Kayla and Ryder and was a bit surprised to find another butler other than Jack receive her. This butler too wore the same attire as Jack yet unlike Jack and Judy, he was not a rabbit but a bear. He stood so tall he had to bend his head down to properly to look out at the door frame. Like Jack, before him, this butler too bowed and greeted Judy with superb elegance.

"Good morning, Madam." He answered smiling down at the rabbit. "How may I help you?"

"Hello, I'm Judy Hopps. I'd like to see Kayla Ainsworth and talk to her about a fox named Nicholas Wilde. It's really important."

"One moment Miss Hopps." The bear stepped away from the door frame and pressed his claw on the button of an intercom. "Madam, Miss Hopps is here to see you. It- "

A sharp voice from the other end cut the bear off "I don't care, Anthony. Lie and tell her I'm sick or busy. I don't feel like an interview right now"

Anthony the bear was undeterred and spoke on "Given Miss Hoops casual attire I would wager it seems more akin to a personal matter." He glanced over at Judy for confirmation and she nodded. "She says it's urgent Madam. Something about a fox named Nicholas Wilde."

There was a long pause. "Send her up." Kayla commanded, "I am going to the garden."

"As you wish Madam." Anthony took his claw off the intercom and beckoned Judy to follow him. As they walked down the hallways Anthony said a little sadly. "I apologize for Madam's discourteous behavior. Normally she is the most loving and kind vixen you will ever encounter. But as of late her mood has soured."

"What happened?" Judy asked.

Anthony frowned. His giant shoulders slumped. "I am unaware of the details. All I know is this: When we came home after looking for Master Ryder the Madam smelled something in the air and all over her son that sent her into shock. This worsened when she read a letter given to her by master Ryder. Ever since then she's different. Less joyful and more sorrowful. We butlers, maids, and cooks have tried to console her, but nothing has worked. Only Master Ryder has gotten a smile out of her, but even that has lost much of its light. She has been barely sleeping as well. Last night and the night before, she slept for only two hours in total. I just pray whatever has come over her leaves sooner than later. "

Hearing of Kayla, Judy was reminded of Nick and her curiosity of how the two foxes were connected history fell to the forefront of her mind.

The rabbit and the bear made their way into an elevator built into the penthouse itself. Once inside Anthony pressed the topmost button and the duo was dropped off on the highest level of the hotel. On the last floor of the hotel, there was no ceiling, no walls, there was only a garden. A vast and great garden with glimmering emerald grass. Flowers of every color grew and bloomed up from the soft soil. Roses, tulips, anemones, bellflowers and so many more breeds of flora were there in the prime of their youth. The whispering of running fountains water was all about, and the buzzing of bees rung in the young trees. All along the perimeter was a seven-foot-high steel safety guard rail with an over a hundred bars, so closely packed together, a mouse would have struggled to squeeze their arm through them.

Sitting at a table in the heart of the garden was an arctic fox being served by a badger butler. Anthony and Judy walked over to the white fox and the badger. Anthony stopped and bowed to the white fox saying "Presenting Miss Judith Hopps."

Careful not slip a drip from the pitcher of tea he was holding, only the badger turned and bowed in greeting to Judy. The white fox remained with her back to them both and said roughly, "Edward. Anthony. Leave us." The badger and the bear bowed to their Madam and left Judy alone with her.

Standing in front of her goal Judy walked over to the table with determination overflowing in her small steps. It was until Judy was more than halfway around the small metal table that she got a good look at the white fox.

Kayla Ainsworth was nothing if not beautiful. The loveliness of winter lived in her flesh, and soothing air of summer was about her strong spirit. Her fur, fair and soft as moonlight, had no thread out of place. Her eyes were like twin shimmering sapphires, yet beneath her fair orbs of blue, there did lie dark circles and heavy bags. A long flowing crimson skirt matched by a blacktop was her attire, and by the work of her perfume, she smelled of lilacs. In one paw was a piece of paper had been that had been folded four times and in her other paw was a glass of ice tea.

Judy took her place in the chair across from Kayla. The vixen took a sip of her tea and spoke with a hard and cold business-like manner the instant Judy had taken her seat. All the while she never let her eyes fall off the paper she was holding. "Here's what is going to happen Hopps. You and I both want to talk about Nick. So we are going to make a trade of sorts. I will ask you a few questions about Nick as he is right now, and you will answer all of them to the best of your abilities. Keep your answers short and sweet. Don't dawdle. After I am done asking all my questions, you will be permitted to speak about exactly you came here for. If you don't like this arrangement, stop wasting my time and leave. And if you refuse to leave, I will have Anthony came and escort you out. This is the first and last deal I am going to give you."

Judy was fuming. It had not even been twenty seconds and already she disliked her host. She wanted to tell off Kayla then and there. Before they had even begun, Kayla had already stacked the cards in her favor. How could someone be so rude, and so demanding of a person they had just met? However, Judy bit her tongue and tossed her feelings to the side. She remembered what Anthony had told her on the way up. Kayla wasn't acting like herself. But still, if the vixen wanted to play the game like that, Judy would play along. She had nothing to gain from getting on the bad side of the arctic fox.

"Ask away Miss Ainsworth," Judy said putting the most kindly and polite expression she could.

Going off by what little she had seen and known of Kayla, Judy had wrongfully assumed the white fox would first ask something along the lines of "What did Nick say about me?" or something to this effect. So when the caring question of "How is Nick doing emotionally right now?" Came from Kayla's seemingly uncaring voice it left Judy so staggered it took her a second to recover from her shock.

At last, she sadly said, "He has been shutting himself in. He won't talk to me or anyone else right now. I tried to go to his house, but he wouldn't let me in. He just closed the curtains, and from what I saw it looked like he was sitting in the dark. I didn't see any light coming in from the house."

"How long has he been like this?" Kayla inquired reaching for her phone sitting on the table.

"Three days now," Judy said, more focused on why Kayla was dialing a number on her phone than giving her host the answer she sought.

When the person on the other line picked up the phone Kayla said, "Eric, I want you and Larry to make lunch. Two blueberry pies, topped with whipped cream and lemon on each. A tray of fruit made of apple slices, orange slices, watermelon slices with no seeds, pineapples, and grapes that have a crunch to them when you bite them. Along with fifty crickets, ten slices of toast slathered with honey. For a drink, make it a large milkshake with cinnamon in it. Yes, that is all. No, do not bring it up here. Keep it down there. I will get it later. Keep everything as fresh as you can until I arrive. Bye."

Kayla hung up and placed the phone back on the table. Judy was confused and looked at the white fox as if she was insane. Why had Kayla taken the time to call her own cooks? And why did she wish for them to prepare all that food? Glancing at the fox and up taking note of her slender figure, Judy seriously doubted Kayla could eat all of that food over the course of two days, much less a single evening.

But Judy was robbed of the chance to ponder on what Kayla was planning when the fox fired off the next round of questions. "Has Nick been in a relationship in the past few years? Is he in one relationship now? If he is, is he married?"

The three had come in such swift succession Judy was forced to be quiet so as to get her bearings back. After thinking of all the past conversations she could remember having with Nick, Judy realized something. For a fox who loved to talk and brag about himself, Nick never once brought anything up in regards to his love life. "I know he isn't married since I haven't seen him wearing a ring, but I don't know if he has a girlfriend or not." Was the best answer Judy was able to supply.

Judy could have sworn she saw a twinkle of happiness shine in Kayla's otherwise unkind eyes.

"Does he still live in that same white house on the hill in the suburbs?" The fox asked, her voice still hard and cold as it was when they had stared, "The one at 7893 Merry Marsh Lane with the big old oak tree on the front lawn?"

"Yeah." Judy let the lone word drag and hang in the air. She was finding Kayla's intimate knowledge of Nick's life a bit unnerving.

"Does he enjoy being a cop?" Kayla asked with the tiniest sliver of mirth slipping into the cracks of her tone.

"Yeah. I think he loves now that others just don't see him as a sly fox."

The corners of Kayla's mouth rose in a smile. It wasn't large, and it didn't last for long, as if Judy had blinked she would have missed it entirely. Still, it was a genuine smile nonetheless. But quick as it came, it perished. Kayla's smile was gone, and she returned to probing Judy for information with the subtlety of a savage tiger tearing into its meal. "Here's my last question for you, Cottontail."

Had her legs not been dangling in the chair that was a tad too tall for her, Judy's feet certainly would have sent its fair share of angry tremors through the ground. The nickname Kayla had given her pushed a button few who knew Judy would dare press. The rabbit crossed her arms and glared at the arctic fox, but Kayla's eye's never crossed paths with Judy's. For a though the vixen had taken her eyes off of the paper in her paw, she now looked out into a seemingly random place in the garden. "How much do you know about his past? Nick has always been the type to hide his secrets away. I want to know how much of it you've uncovered."

"I know about something that happened to him when he was eight or nine involving a muzzle," Judy said, barely able to hide her distaste for the white-furred vulpine. "He-"

"Eight." Kayla interrupted. "He was eight when those Junior Ranger Scouts put that muzzle on him."

Judy's ear stood at attention. Her running mind froze. "You know about that?"

"Yes." Kayla said, "And the fact that you know about it too, well at least half of what happened that night, proves Nick trusts you a little. "

The dam broke. Now was Judy's chance. All of the questions she had been holding in since Nick dragged her out of the penthouse came flooding out from her mouth. "Half? What do you mean? What else happened to Nick in that night and how the heck do you know about it? In fact, why do you know so much about Nick in the first place?"

Unaffected by the storm of questions sent her way Kayla continued to stare off at nothing. "I know what happened to Nick with the muzzle because I was there after the fact. As for how I know so much about him well…" She trailed off giving an almost girlish giggle, which seemed unwelcoming of a woman with such a somber air about her. "It's funny. If you were to go back in time and tell my eight year self one day I would be Kayla Wilde once, I probably would have called you an insane idiot. "

Judy's jaw dropped. "You're Nick's wife?!"

"Ex-wife." She corrected, "And if you like, I'll give you one Wilde guess who is Ryder's father."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thank you for everyone who is reading the story so far. Each now follower and reviewer is like seeing a new star being born into the darkness. It makes me happier than I can properly put into words. Also, on an unrelate**__**d **__**note**__**, the poem in this chapter took me seven hours. I was about to rip out my hair over it. Hope you all like it, and the chapter as well. **_

_**As always thanKs to Zacin- Galar Legendary for being my spellchecker. **_

* * *

Chapter 3: Kayla's Flashback

An eight-year-old Kayla had the neck of her guitar locked in a death grip. Her throat was dry as a dessert bone and her heart had fled into the safety of her uneasy stomach. Her weak knees had become jelly, and her eyes stared outside the window of the back seat in her father's car afraid. Streetlights whizzed on by as the car drove smoothly down the road, and the waxing moons dim light was dulled by clouds of grey. Kayla took deep breaths as the car came to a slow and safe stop.

"We're here, Snowflake." Said her father as he stepped out of the car.

If one did not count shape and shade of his blue he passed down to his only child, Matthew Ainsworth looked nothing like his wife and daughter. His fur was dark as raven's wings. So black was his fur coat, when he stood there against the backdrop of the night sky, the parts of him laying shadow almost seemed invisible even Kayla's eyes which were endowed the gift of night vision.

Matthew opened the door and bent down to unbuckle his child from her seat. When he was so close, Kayla's nose captured the faint scent mop water and floor cleaner lingering on him and the janitor outfit he wore. Matthew held his paw out and Kayla took it. Moments later father and daughter being bathed in the bright glow of neon lights as they stood in front of a sign reading "the Cattle cafe". It was a nice little coffee shop. Warm and cozy in the cold winter. Relaxing and soothing in the summer. Not popular yet not unloved by the community who knew of it.

Many children entered the shop while crickets chipped close and owls flew over and hooted afar. Some of the children were older than Kayla. Others were younger. Some walked in with their parents.  
Others walked in alone. Kayla squeezed her father's paw when fear squeezed her chest. Matthew knelt down to the eye level of his daughter.

"Let's run over the rules again," Matthew said as he did his best to straighten out the little wrinkles in Kayla's gold and black dress. "What time is the contest over it?"

"At nine o'clock," Kayla answered swallowing a lump her throat.

Much to Kayla's displeasure Matthew licked his paw and ran it across her head, laying down a few strands of hair standing out between her ears. "And what are you going to do when it's over?"

"Wait inside for mommy to come and get me."

Matthew nodded "And what if a stranger tries to talk to you after the contest is over but mommy isn't here to get you yet?"

"Ignore them."

"And if they still try to talk to you?" The black fox questioned his snow-white child further.

"Tell them to leave me alone and go back to minding my own business."

Matthew smiled. "And if they try to take you somewhere else outside of the shop or try and hurt you?"

"Beat'em with my guitar. And if that doesn't work, I have to put on my scary face and say my scary words."

Matthew smile spread ear to ear "And remember you have your phone on you. If there is a big emergency that you think you can't handle, call mommy. She may be at work but we both know that vixen, will wrestle a billion bears to the ground if it meant she had to save you."

Kayla giggles were uncontrollable. Her father always found ways to make her laugh, even when she didn't think she could. Matthew stood up and planted a kiss on Kayla's nose and gave her the biggest hug would she happily returned. "Alright, baby daddy's gotta go or he'll be late for work. Schools don't sadly clean themselves. Now, get in there and show them what we foxes are made of. And remember, it's ok to be nervous and scared. Everyone is scared at one point or another, and someone says they have never been nervous or scared, they're either an insane idiot or a big fat liar."

Again Kayla giggled and again her father gave her one last kiss before sending her off. It took Kayla ten steps to reach the inside of the cafe. Each step was like her feet had been turned into lead. A stone's throw away from the front door was a plastic foldable table. Behind it there sat a bull. His horns were ashen grey and his dark fur was offset by the cafe outfit he wore. Over his redshirt was a green apron with his nickname on it. Kayla walked towards him and squirmed under the hard hold of his eyes.

"Are you here to enter the contest?" The bull asked. His voice was as strong as the roots of mountains. Kayla went mute and nodded clutching onto her guitar as if it was a security blanket.

"Name?" The bull asked, taking a pencil in his hoof and laying upon in front of him.

Kayla plucked what leaf of courage was alive within her and stammered out "K-K-Kayla A-A-Ainsworths."

The bull jotted her name. His face stayed to the paper and the table. He then pointed his pencil over the tables where customers could sit in peace and chat. "Sit over there. Wait for your number to be called."

Kayla bowed her head in gratitude and searched for a place to sit. The crowd was over a hundred strong but all of them were unfamiliar faces. None among them were predators, and none among them were foxes. Kayla may not have been alone but loneliness was with her. She sat down at a table by herself. She placed her guitar on the table. Being made of mundane wood, string, and covered in scratches, her guitar may not have been new or the best model but it was hers. With her nerves still in a twist, she turned her guitar for the tenth time that day and ran through the song she was gonna sing for the hundredth time. When she looked out the window her stomach plummeted. Her dad was no longer on the sidewalk as he had been when she walked in. His car was gone, and he was at work. There was no way out now.  
Her guitar was ready and she almost positive she knew all the words to piece she was to play. With nothing left to do, Kayla folded her paws in her lap and twiddled her dights. To her it was an eternity came and passed before the chattering among the cafe was broken apart.

There was tapping on a microphone and all heads turned towards the small karaoke stage. The antelope stood there with a gleeful grin plastered on him. Kayla guessed him to be a fellow employee of the cafe giving his attire was identical to the bull that let her inside.

"Hello everyone," The antelope said brimming with excitement, "I am the manager here Mr. Waston. And I'd like to welcome to our bi-annual singing contest. I think in all the years we've been doing this is the biggest turnout I've seen." He leaned forward and combed the crowd, "It's so good to so many new faces, and some old ones as well. Well for those of you are new here let me go how things are gonna work. Don't worry it's really simple. We are gonna call your number in order and when you hear your number called just come up here, introduce yourself, and tell us the name of the song you are going to sing and who it's by. While your singing out judges over here-"

Mr. Watsons pointed over a table where sat a rabbit, a horse, and a giraffe. The three of them seemed to be randomly picked off the streets. Their clothes were nothing special and no sense of professionalism came from them. However, they each appeared to be honored to be there and were just as joyous as Mr. Waston to the judges for the evening.

"- will rate your score anywhere from zero to thirty. The contestant who gets the highest score will when in the five hundred dollar grand prize. Second place is two hundred fifty dollars and third place is a hundred and twenty-five. But, after an indecent we had last year" Mr. Waston eyed up all the older competitors who in middle to the last stages of their teenage years "I'd ask you all refrain from singing any songs that use any inappropriate references or vulgar language. With all of that out of the way. Let's begin. Would number 1 please come to the stage?"

The first of the competitors was a pig. Long before anyone had seen him approach applause broke for his mere valor to participate. He was twice Kayla's height and twice her age. The pores on his pudgy pink face perspired, (whether it was his anxiety leaking through, or the intensity of the stage bearing down on him who is to say). He gripped onto the microphone stand tightly.

"What's your name honey?" Beamed the rabbit in a motherly manner.

"Howard Cambell" Howard said, "And what will you being today for us tonight Howard?" Asked the giraffe his older features kind and warm.  
Howard gave the name of a generic song that was popular at the time, and once the judges had written down his name and the name of his song, Howard began to sing. His voice was nothing spectacular but nothing so foul it made Kayla want to cover her ears. Howard missed a dozen or so notes and once or twice ran out of breath as he performed. When his time in the spotlight came to an end, he was given a round of polite applause and a total score of nineteen. The judges gave him nothing but praise and encouragement, and he walked off with his head held high. This was indicative of many of those who came and sang after him. Many were better. Many were worse. Yet all were given applause whatever their skills may have been.

When Kayla heard her number called she walked to stage with running heart threatening to tear off her chest. She looked at the microphone not unlike how a walking dead man looks at the noose that would be his end. The applause for her was murdered in its tracks when she came into view of everyone. Murmurs ran rampant across tables and counters. Whispers were shared between the judges, and the happiness from them was sucked from their faces, the longer they focused on the fox child in front of them.

"Name?" Asked the horse his disgruntlement spread wide across his long face.

"K-Kayla A-Ainsworth, sir." The fox answered with respect to the elder as her parents had brought her up to do.

"What are you going to be singing Ainsworth?" Said the giraffe his eyes were elsewhere. Anywhere Kayla was not to be precise.

Kayla gulped, "The song of Arthur and Edith, sir"Kayla had gotten her guitar in its proper, and most comfortable, possible when the rabbit questioned exactly what the song of Arthur and Edith was.

"My daddy told me," Kayla said "When we foxes were made slaves a long long long time ago we kept our stories safe from our slave owners by passing them down by singing them. And my mommy said out of all the songs we foxes made and have, the song of Arthur and Edith is the oldest and the closest we hold to our hearts. I love it, and I just want to share with all of you."

The three judges were unmoved and unimpressed, but they allowed Kayla to carry on. She cleared her throat and sang and played. To ward of the stage fright polluting her, Kayla closed her eyes. Darkness was before yet the light of her love for music bloomed within her. As she played her voice grew fairer and stronger. The melody of her instrument clear and grander. Her singing was sweet as falling cherry petals and soothing as elder owl who weavers together a harmony for his sleeping forest. The strums from her strings tenderly caressed all, and the notes played spang on air like embers leaping from fire. And this was the song Kayla sang. The song of Arthur and Edith. The song that had been ancient long before the first brick of Zoopita had been set in the earth.

Before the mountains afar grew giant and old  
Before the speedy warm rivers grew slow and cold  
Before the living trees fell silent as dead stone  
When upon a young and gentle sea the stars shone  
When upon these lands the timid wind had sung naught  
When upon life the sun shone like gold newly wrought  
In an age of yore, we are all too young to know  
There did live the king of fire and his queen of snow

Edith, the lady of winter, so free and fair  
To her loveliness, no soul could ever compare  
Her coat, tender as falling snow, white as moonlight  
Her laughter like bells softly chiming in the night  
The softness of her gaze left all frozen in awe  
In her magnificent singing there lived no flaw  
Among the tulips in the spring, she danced and sang  
And to all children of the forest, her voice rang

Arthur, the lord of summer, so gallant and strong  
A wise master in the crafting of speech and song  
A trusted and kind friend to predator and prey  
His grand fur, red as the sun at the break of day  
His smile bright as a flash of lighting in the gloom  
His vast heart was beautiful as the rose in bloom  
Seeking to find a muse for his poems, his art  
Alone into the green woodlands, he did depart

Arthur had stood upon the loftiest of hills  
He had sat and listened to the humblest of shrills  
He had witnessed the northern lights dance in the sky  
And watched a thousand scarlet comets sail on by  
All colors of twilight had shone before his eyes  
And he had heard the songbirds sing to the sunrise  
Many wonders Arthur had seen throughout the years  
Yet not once had he been moved so as to shed tears

But as he walked under an old tree's stretching limb  
He heard singing off afar and tears fell from him  
The music trapped his spirit in enchantments spell  
And with mirthful astonishment, his heart did swell  
Over both river and rock to the singings source  
He ran on, pushed forth by fascination's force  
When he did find Edith dancing and singing there  
In his awe, Arthur could only silently stare

Bathed in the sweet luster of the sun's golden glow  
Her fur glittered like when the moonlight kisses snow  
Her grandeur was beyond the world's most supreme queen  
Beyond all things, Arthur had ever heard or seen  
Concealed in the shade he watched her until twilight  
For 'Twas not till the death of day and birth of night  
That once more Arthur's voice and sense arose in might  
And he walked to Edith with so strides fleet and light

Edith watched him fall to one knee and bow his head  
And her fascination was aroused when he said  
"O fairest lady this old world shall ever know  
May I humbly sing to you before you must go."  
She granted his request and so he sang his song  
Which made the strings of her heart hum a tender twang  
As his song was made of all of his awe for her  
And within her breast, it's beauty made something stir

She took Arthur's face in her paws and kissed his brow  
And in the meadow to him, she did make this vow  
"Revisit to me here and sing for me anew  
And if that is done then I swear to dance for you"  
For numberless years regardless of the weather  
The two never missed a single day together  
Their blooming love became the greatest ever known  
Even in death, it's warmth outlives the coldest stone

He stared into the magnificence of her gaze  
And saw a greatness time never could hope to raze  
She heard him sing with a splendor that went untold  
That she treasured higher than the worth of all gold  
He watched her move smoother than waves upon the sea  
And from this, he was given nigh unbroken glee  
She took to heart each note he wove for her alone  
And her joy was seated upon a lofty throne

Then one night, together now as husband and wife  
They performed the hallowed dance that gave their love life  
Their babe, their Ryder had his father's coat of red  
But on him, Edith's hue of white was also spread  
With Ryder asleep within his gentle embrace  
Arthur planted a kiss on his wife's weary face  
Upon them, sorrow and pain did seldom ever lay  
As the family of three lived in glee many a day

The tale of Arthur and Edith did not end there. There was more to it, yet Kayla could go on longer. The soreness of her throat hurt her too much. It was a long and difficult piece to play alone, and more difficult still when her nerves had sucked almost all water from her mouth minutes ago. Kayla stopped and excused herself as she rubbed her throat.

Though Kayla had sung it, their words in the piece she didn't know the meaning of such as wrought, raze or twang. But she didn't focus on the meaning of the words so much how to enunciate them well. Besides, even if she had no knowledge of their meaning that meant nothing in the end. Kayla wasn't a judge. The adults were the judges, and she believed the adults would understand what she did not. After all, the adults were older and wiser. Isn't that is supposed to be? So surely they knew best. Didn't they?

For Kayla, no applause was given. No one in the crowded voiced their praise, yet Kayla gave a curtesy to them all. The judges raised no scorecards and spoke amongst themselves in hushed whispers. But when a conclusion was reached the rabbit stood high in her chair, Kayla waited with bated breath.

"You're disqualified."

Those two words tore Kayla's world asunder. For months she had worked her digits to the bone, trying to master the notes until she stood as close as perfection as one possibly could. For weeks prior her mother and father had helped to memorize the words of the song until she could hum the melody as she lay on deep sleep. For hours before now she had been a wreck of dread and bundled up nerves. All her work, all her struggle, all her hope laying on getting first place to help her parents, all of it had been made worthless by two words. Her limbs went numb, and her head was heavy. Kayla stared at the floor the whole, the rabbit went on to explain her reasoning and dug Kayla deeper into her pit of dismay.

"That line in your song. "Said the rabbit with her face stern and her arms folded across her chest, "about "They performed the hallowed dance that gave their love life" was very inappropriate young lady." She turned her nose down on Kayla and scoffed. "Honestly, I can't imagine why your partners would allow you to sing a song with such a lewd line."

"Let's pray the rest of fox songs aren't that vulgar." Said the horse. Their decision was greeted with smiles. Kayla overcame her numbness and walked off the stage, dragging her beloved guitar on the ground. She was crushed, but she did not cry. Kayla seldom cried.

"Crying is for babies." She told herself as she made her way to the front of the shop. She hadn't obeyed the orders of her father, but she couldn't stay at the cafe. Her heart lacked the strength to wait for hours in that place, in that place where what she loved was hated.

Kayla put her paw on the door and pushed when a voice softly called out to her saying, "You were amazing."

Kayla turned around and studied the bull that was still at his plastic table. Wet fur was under his misty eyes. He had been crying. Kayla flashed him a bittersweet smile and thanked him before she left.

Kayla had no idea where she was going as she went down the desolate sidewalk. She only knew she needed to think for a time. She searched the annals of her memory to try and find out if she had wronged someone in the cafe. Had she said or done something rude? No, she had spoken to anyone but the bull before she performed. Was it her dress? Was it ugly? That wasn't right either. Her parents had bought just for her to wear at the contest, and the vixen at the shop who gave it to them said Kayla was splendid as the sun summer in it. Maybe she had missed some notes? But Kayla thought that was impossible as well. She would have felt embarrassment bubble inside if that had been the case, and surely the judges would have said something.

Kayla knew what the rabbit said about her song being vulgar was a lie. But just because she knew it was a lie, did not mean Kayla could see the truth then. It wasn't until she was older and more learned in the ways of the world did Kayla figure out why she was really disqualified that night. But as the little girl, she was back then, she was confused and walked down the street alone in search of answers.

How long she walked Kayla couldn't say but her aching feet demanded that she rest. Scouring the area of apartments about, she spotted an old and thick T.V cardboard box. Once she was comfortable atop it she held her guitar and played. She played with no song in mind. With no passion in her heart. She played for the mere sake of playing and to fill the silent night. Her strings mothered a tune sorrowful and mighty, and for the longest time they were alone were sole makes of sound. But then a new sound joined them and made Kayla turn her head down in the street. She stopped playing when the sound came closer joined by another noise. It was the rush of running feet and the wheeze of weary breath. Someone was coming. Kayla flipped her guitar and was ready to use as it a weapon when the owner of the feet and maker of the breath appeared in front of her.

He was a child, a fox, just like her. Although the hue of his coat was a dashing red, unlike her own snow-white. He was dressed in the garb of a junior ranger scout. Terror and misery owned his emerald eyes. He bent down, with his arms leaning on his knees for support. His breath was haggard and his voice dry as he gazed up at Kayla and through his panting let out, "Help me, please. They are coming."

Kayla looked at the boy baffled. Who was he? What was he running from? Kayla did not ask him because the boy didn't her give the chance to. A new set of feet were swiftly coming, and the boy whimpered, "Oh no."

Kayla had no time to stop him as the boy drove for the cardboard box and lifted it just enough so that he was able to squirm under it without throwing her off. His shivering made the box quiver ever so slightly. The new sets of footsteps drew closer and closer until then they stopped. Each of the five boys wore the same outfit as the red fox hiding under the cardboard box.

In the front was a woodchuck. To the right of the woodchuck was a hippo, and to his left was a zebra. Beside the hippo was a zebra and next to the zebra was a deer with no antlers poking out from his head. In the back stood a ram with little curly horns coming out. Kayla noticed the muzzle in the woodchuck's paws as he stepped up to.

"Hey, fox, have you seen another fox around? He's red and is dressed like us" the woodchuck asked, the box's quivering grew twofold.

Kayla was in no mood to deal with the boys in front of her and went back to playing her guitar. She hummed a soothing song and the box she sat on relaxed.  
"Hey, I asked you a question!" The woodchuck took another step closer to Kayla with the zebra and hippo beside him.

Kayla stopped playing and rolled her eyes, "No, I haven't seen any fox. Now leave me alone. Go chuck some wood or something."

Kayla turned the strings of her instrument for another piece she wanted to play when the zebra let his voice be known, "I bet she's lying. Like my dad says "You can trust a viper before a fox". How about we muzzle her instead. She may not be Nick but think about we doing everyone a favor. A muzzled up fox is a safe fox."

The zebra walked over and held the muzzle up to Kayla's face as he approached. Kayla narrowed and flip her guitar around as a makeshift blunt tool for battle and said: "Try it and I will knock the strips off you."

The group of five laughed and the hippo said in a babyish and mocking way "Aw, is the itty bitty Snowflake gonna sing us a song to give us bad dreams."

An inferno of ire exploded inside of Kayla. No one called her Snowflake but her parents. She rose to her feet and gripped the neck of her guitar like it was the handle to a war hammer. The zebra tried to put the muzzle on her, yet she took to the air with a small jump off the box and came down upon the zebra's head with her guitar bearing all of her anger. The instrument broke into bits chips of wood and a few severed strings flung off. The zebra fell to the ground clutching his head. No blood was drawn but his wails and tears came as if he had an arm torn off.

Reeking of fear the scouts jumped away from Kayla as she held the broken neck of her guitar in her paw. First, she was disqualified, then she was threatened by these bullies when she was already miserable. If the day itself sought to enrage Kayla, it had succeeded. Kayla dropped what remained of her guitar as the zebra crawled away from her, covering neck to his friends.

"S-she's crazy." The deer said stuttered hiding behind the ram.

"W-w-what are you guys so afraid of?" Said the goat as frightened as all his peers. "It's just a fox. There are five of us and one of her. Come on. Let's get her." The ram's little speech has allowed the other four to gather their some sense of bravery. But when they came at Kayla, she did exactly what her parents had told her to do in this type of situation. She put on her scary face and said her scary words.

Kayla bared her dragger keen fangs and her brandished sword sharp claws. The thrumming of her growl was deep and dark like the jaws of the sea. Her eyes burned with a wild fury, and with a roar of ire, Kayla screamed at her bullies, "If you come at me I'll use my fangs to draw your blood, and I'll use my claws to scar your bones. I'll carve my name on your trembling heart, and fear into your soul. Well? Come on then? Come on and fight you, cowards!"

The scouts were petrified but when Kayla leaped at them with her maw wide open ready to bite, and with her claws ready to rip them to shreds they ran away as if death was on their tails, and Kayla chased them down the street growling and snapping at them. Yet she did not chase them all the way. Once they had darted around the closest corner Kayla stopped and put away her scary face.

"And don't' come back" She shouted before she blew a raspberry at them. Kayla stomped on back over to the remains of her guitar, looked it over and frowned. It was beyond repair. She would have to wait for her parents to get her a new one. However many months would take. Kayla went over the cardboard box and lifted it up. The red fox was still inside.

From behind his paws, he peeked out at Kayla, "Are they gone?" He asked.

"Ya. They ran away." Kayla said, "Bunch of insane idiots."

The red fox crawled out from under the box and sniffled wiping his nose. "Thanks for saving me."

Kayla brushed off his gratitude, "Don't mention it. What were they trying to do to you anyway? I saw one of them had a muzzle."

The red fox whimpered and he shrunk like he was a turtle trying to hide in its shell. But he mentioned how the Scouts he trusted betrayed him and tried to muzzle because he was a fox. "I ran outside and got the muzzle off. I started to cry but they came out and tried it again. I ran away and then well… you know the rest."

Kayla was outraged and spoke of how if she had known that from the start she would have hit the woodchuck instead of the zebra. The red fox smiled at her, and without the two of them knowing it, they started to walk down the sidewalk together.

They traded names and from this trade, Kayla found out the red fox was called Nicholas Wilde. "But you can call me Nick." He added, "Everyone does."  
Kayla nodded and gave him her own name and for a while silence was between them. Eager to fill the void Kayla hummed anew, and her humming made way for singing and Nick listened to her singing as if he was hearing the beauty of all the earth given a voice.

"You're amazing." He whispered. She didn't know why but Nick compliment had sewed pink on Kayla's cheeks. She went on with singing as they went on down the sidewalk, ignoring the growing feeling in her stomach. It wasn't fear. It was something new. Something Kayla had never known before. Something that felt terrible and wonderful all at the same time.

They arrived back to the front of the cafe. Those who arrived for the contest had begun to file out and return to him. Kayla took out her flip phone from her pocket and checked the time. 6:57 pm. Her father would be there any minute to get her. Kayla made her way back inside and bid farewell yet stopped when she glanced back at him and saw Nick still standing there awkwardly.

"Um, do you think I could wait for your dad with you." He asked, " I don't have a phone and I don't know where I am."

"You can use my phone," Kayla said handing over the device to the scarlet furred tod. Nick thanked her and began to dial away as the sight of a familiar car fell into Kaya's view, and out of that car came a white-furred fox wearing nurse scrubs.

Charlotte Ainsworth and her daughter looked so much alike, that if Charlotte had been ten years younger everyone would have thought the two were sisters. Charlotte came forth with an air of authority and love about her. And though Kayla loved her mother beyond what words can tell, she just as much feared her authority.  
Charlotte stood over her daughter with his arms across her chest, and her golden eyes bore a hole into Kayla's heart. Each question she had for Kayla was like a strike to her conscience. Why was she standing outside of the shop when her father told her to wait inside? Where was her guitar? And who was this strange boy using her phone?

Raised to always be truthful with her mother and father Kayla told the truth. Terrible anger came over Charlotte when she heard about what happened to her Snowflake at the contest. But Kayla would have taken her mother's anger any day if it meant being able to avoid the glare of disappointment the older vixen smote her with when Kaylas she told of how she had gone off on her into the city all alone. However, it was impossible to not see the faint brilliance of pride in her mother's eyes when Kayla told how she met Nick and defended him and herself from the Junior Ranger Scouts.

Charlotte bent down and hugged Kayla "I'm proud of you for helping Nick and protecting yourself. But don't do something like that again. If something bad had happened to you… I don't even want to think about it."

Kayla hugged her mother back and apologized. When the embrace broke apart Nick handed Kayla back her phone and introduced himself to Charlotte with shy but polite "Hello ma'am."

Charlotte acknowledged Nick smiled warmly at him, "Is someone coming to get you, sweetie?"

Nick nodded. "My dad said he would be here in about twenty minutes."

" We'll wait here with you until he gets here." Charlotte said, "I know I'd feel better if I knew someone was watching over Kayla if she was in your place."

And so with Kayla in the middle, her mother on her right, and Nick on her left, the three foxes sat on the sidewalk together and waited for Nick's father. Nick and Kayla chatted and he questioned her about the contest. She told of how she had sung the song of Arthur and Edith, and Nick asked for her to sing it for him, and so she did. Kayla stood and sang, and Nick listened and watched her in wonderment. Yet her song was cut short by Charlotte's giggling. Both children looked at the adult confused.

"What's so funny mommy?" Kayla asked as Charlotte rested her chin in her paw

.  
"Oh, nothing Snowflake. I just always thought it was Arthur that sang for Edith, not the other way around." She was grinning at the white vixen and the red tod knowingly, yet the implication of what she was saying went over Kayla's and Nick's heads.

Nick merely leaned over and whispered to Kayla "Your mom is a little weird."

Kayla let out a breath of relief, "Good, you think so too. I thought it was just me."

Charlotte just smiled at the kids, as the pair fell into their own little world and spoke about all the things they loved and hated. From books to movies, from vegetables to homework, from summer days at the pool to monsters that lurk under the bed. Many more childish tales were spun there under the moon and stars between their hearts. Kayla laughed too many times to count at Nick's awful jokes, and he smiled too many times to remember when she sang a new song she was either making up or recalling for him.

When a set of headlights came from the darkness and showered the three in its light, Kayla frowned and Nick's showed his sadness. Their time together was coming to an end. Nick got to his feet as his father's car stopped right in front of the trio. John Wilde threw open the door and rushed on fleeting feet.

"Are you ok Nick?" John asked resting his paws upon his son' shoulders and looking his son over with worried eyes.

"I am fine dad, thanks to Kayla and Mrs. Ainsworth." Nick introduced the Ainsworths to his father and John Wilde greeted with formality and in thanks.

"Thank you for looking after my boy," John said as he held Nick's paw and brought him close to his side.

"No problem. We foxes have to look for each other." Charlotte said as she held onto her daughter's paw as well, "Hey, I was wondering. You think it'd be alright if our kids had a playdate sometime in the future." Kayla and Nick both smiled at one another and were so excited about the chance of meeting again under better circumstances, they missed the remark of how Charlotte commented she and John may be seeing the making of another Arthur and Edith like story with their own eyes.

The parents gave each other their respective numbers and allowed the children to give their farewells. As she sat in the car on the way home, Kayla smiled so brightly no shadows could dim it. She may have lost the contest, her guitar, and had been grounded for weeks as punishment for disobeying her father orders, but these paled in comparison to the joy swelling inside of her. She made a new friend. She had met Nick, and to her, that made it all worth it.

"Friends are better than money anyway," She told herself as she closed her eyes and took a nap on the car ride homeward bound.


End file.
